What Problems will Liberty Face If they Sell Formula One

Formula One has seen a few changes since Liberty Media bought the sport, but it hasn’t been the sweeping changes we all expected.

2021 will probably be the defining year in their ownership, with a budget cap and big engine and car regulations added to really spice up the competition.

However, there have been rumours that Liberty are looking to sell the sport, only a few years after buying it.

Although they have said that there is no truth in these reports, rumours continue to circulate, and Igor Yermilin, Russia’s motor racing federation president says that Liberty would struggle to sell the sport for a profit.

He told Russia’s Sportbox publication: “The current management wanted to start improving formula one but it turned out to be a lot more difficult.

“They have neither the experience nor the ability to finely control the process, as Bernie Ecclestone did. And all the uncertainties that arise in such a situation generate the rumours.

“It is very difficult to find a buyer who is ready to spend the amount the Americans would need after everything they have spent. They would need to sell it more expensively than they bought it, but there is hardly anyone who is ready to do that.”

He said, “Well, you would have never heard a promoter talk out about Bernie, because they wouldn’t have had a grand prix the following year. He had a different way of doing business.

“The problem is, the way Liberty are trying to operate in a democratic way… the promoters are getting far more from Liberty than they ever got previously in terms of freedom and ability to do things there would be stronger restrictions on.

“The more you give, the more instinctively they want. Bernie ran a really tight and hard ship, it was a dictatorship in that if you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t have a race the following year. It’s just a different way of operating.